Re: Mistakes Made LETS HEAR THEM!

Plenty of mistakes:

1. Under charging for work
2. Spending money on too many products (not sure if mistake or addiction)
3. Burned through an edge on the bumper when I first started (luckily my own car but taught me to be extra careful)
4. Used Megs Super Degreaser on the exterior to remove stubborn adhesive then without thinking used the steamer on the same area and it caused some chemical staining on the paint which I then had to compound and polish.
5. Left some high spots when applying coatings the first few times to customers cars and had to have them bring it back to repair and recoat.

Re: Mistakes Made LETS HEAR THEM!

I didn`t pay attention to the grooved shop vac hose when vacuuming out one of our cars after detailing the exterior. The hose rubbed back and forth on door/body panel and left some serious marring. I had to polish it all out and re-apply the LSP.

Also from the "not so bright" files: I was polishing one of our vehicles when the extension cord came unplugged from my DA while I was working. Being a smart guy, I promptly plugged the cord back in without turning off the DA and proceeded to spray a fine mist of compound all over the vehicle, myself, and parts of my garage before I could turn off the machine.

Re: Mistakes Made LETS HEAR THEM!

No kidding. I was doing just fine with M105/M205 and a Gold Class paste wax for a weekend warrior.

That worked well for me for a while...until it didn`t. Then I tried Menz FG400. Good stuff but stinks. Then I went to a Megs training and liked D300.

I convinced myself that I "needed" to try everything to see what works under various conditions. <- that was a mistake.

Originally Posted by IXLRS

Bought too many waxes & soaps. Sure is fun though.

Not sure if that qualifies as a mistake? Depending on who you ask, I guess. But I`m guilty of that. I`ve got over 25 different waxes. Some haven`t even been used. (But, i like the colors and scents of some!!)

Originally Posted by 512detail

... Well, it failed a little after a year completely so I recalled the only two CSL vehicles I had out there and re coated them after a polishing for free.

It didn`t look like the coating was failing on their vehicles but I didn`t want to take a chance.

That was big of you, man.

Hmmmm....

Ouch. not sure I`m ready to share Here`s one that is somewhat *not* really detailing related, but sort of is?

Wife pulled into the garage with her Kia. Liftback open for us to get things out. Looked like she was going to faint, so I rushed over to catch her. Took her in the house, forgot the liftback was open and proceeded to close the garage door. The scraping of the contact still gives me the shivers. (Luckily, it wasn`t that bad, and you couldn`t really see the minimal damage).

More recently, trying to replace her tail lamp bulb, after taping off the edges to avoid damage....still managed to chip her paint. Ugh. I don`t think I`m liking this thread.

Re: Mistakes Made LETS HEAR THEM!

Just Jesus
What do you think of the D300 ? I assume you are using a MF pad?
Do you think it would be easy / light enough to use on a new car with very light beauty / love marks? Or might it be a bit too aggressive??
And I am really not intending to hi-jak the thread

Re: Mistakes Made LETS HEAR THEM!

Taking as long as I did to figure out what detailing and clean real is. Same for on learning how to safely detail a car. What I thought was a clean car 30 years ago is a joke. Still finding new areas to clean that I hadn`t thought about before.

Re: Mistakes Made LETS HEAR THEM!

First or second time using DA (GG6), spinning pad lifted from panel surface, polish sprays everywhere, pad launches. Looking all around for pad, guess I shoulda looked up. It`s really quite impressive how 2 or 3 pea-sized drops of polish can create the gargantuan mess it does when ya do something like this.

Re: Mistakes Made LETS HEAR THEM!

Originally Posted by re-tired

Just Jesus
What do you think of the D300 ? I assume you are using a MF pad?
Do you think it would be easy / light enough to use on a new car with very light beauty / love marks? Or might it be a bit too aggressive??
And I am really not intending to hi-jak the thread

You can always start a new thread. I do like it, though. A LOT. Had two 16oz bottles, but decided to get a gallon during a sale. And yes, I only use it with MF cut pads. I only use it for compounding, though. I would try something else for light beauty/love marks. If you wanted to stay with the Megs stuff, Maybe their new D166, or the D301 or D302, coupled with a finishing MF pad? For light stuff, I tend to reach for Poorboy`s World Polishes. Polish with Carnauba, or w/Sealant, and sometimes Professional Polish and topped with one of their waxes.

Originally Posted by BudgetPlan1

First or second time using DA (GG6), spinning pad lifted from panel surface, polish sprays everywhere, pad launches. Looking all around for pad, guess I shoulda looked up. It`s really quite impressive how 2 or 3 pea-sized drops of polish can create the gargantuan mess it does when ya do something like this.

Budget, that story/pic always crack me up. I can just imagine, "where`d the pad go?" before you finally find it.

Re: Mistakes Made LETS HEAR THEM!

Originally Posted by TroyScherer

.. I`m usually overly cautious and heavy on research to help minimize the level of the mistakes.

I *really* like that approach! I study/think on this stuff for *ages* before I actually try doing something for the first time and I`m *still* spending (literal) hours analyzing my Maintenance Wash Routine hoping to find ways to improve it.

Way back in `78, before I first ran a polisher, I bet I studied the whole subject for a dozen hours at least. Hey, researching Detailing stuff took a long time back then. Paid off, as "the new kid running the Milwaukee" quickly became the only guy in New Car Prep allowed to do dark vehicles, and I credit that studious approach for my never having had an oops! with a rotary.

Re: Mistakes Made LETS HEAR THEM!

First time using my new power washer I did not press the sprayer adapter into place. I turned on the PW and it shot off like a bullet and hit my house. Super lucky it was not pointed at my car or it would have dented it badly.

I’ve lifted the buffer before powering it down, spraying compound all over the car and myself. Got to pay attention to details when detailing.

Re: Mistakes Made LETS HEAR THEM!

Ok here`s my mistake. Happened around 2003. Took what I thought was the quick detailer and proceeded to do the car. It seemed strange to me that it wasn`t as smooth as usual, but I thought it was the temperature. 3/4 of the way through I decided to look at the bottle. I accidentally picked up the leather cleaner instead of the detailer. They were the same color. Any way no big deal right? except it was on this car:

In the end no harm done, but now I look at every bottle every time I pick it up.